Like Rebels Who Never Retreat.

IMAGE: leahnash.com

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Let the speculation commence for Portland’s 2012 City Hall elections. Eileen Brady, who co-founded New Seasons Market with husband Brian Rohter, is considering a run against
Mayor Sam Adams. Brady, who in 2007 briefly flirted with the idea of
challenging then-U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith (R-Ore.), says many Portlanders
have encouraged her to run. In other elections news, also considering a
run for a seat on City Council is Shelli Romero—a former chief of
staff for then-Multnomah County Commissioner Maria Rojo de Steffey and
now a public policy and community affairs manager at the Oregon
Department of Transportation. City Commissioners Randy Leonard and
Amanda Fritz face re-election in 2012, but neither has announced their
re-election plans, creating the possibility of at least one open seat on
the Council.

City Hall is on board with bar owners’ efforts on Southwest Ankeny Street to improve nightlife in downtown’s so-called “Barmuda Triangle” (see “Douchebags Not Allowed,” WW, March 23, 2011). The same day WW’s story hit the streets, Portland Bureau of Transportation head Tom Miller met with Central bar owner Dustin Knox to discuss Knox’s plan to close Ankeny to cars between Southwest 2nd and 3rd avenues.
Knox said Miller supports making the block car-free if there’s no cost
to the city, and if cops and the Oregon Liquor Control Commission agree.
“It sounded like he just wanted to be an advocate for what he felt
would be a revitalization of the downtown situation,” Knox says. Miller
could not be reached for comment.

Karol Collymore, who ran an unsuccessful campaign to join the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners last year, is stepping down from her job as an aide to Multnomah County Chair Jeff Cogen.
Her last day in her $67,000-a-year job is Thursday, March 31. As
previously reported at wweek.com, Collymore earlier in March shut down
some followers’ access to her Twitter account after Collymore tweeted at
work, in a possible violation of county policy. “She has decided to
pursue interests outside county government,” Cogen said in a prepared
statement. “Karol will be missed, but we’re excited about her future
endeavors.” Collymore did not return a phone call seeking comment.

ABDUL RAUF

The imam whose plans last summer to build an Islamic community center two blocks from ground zero in New York City set off big debate will be in Portland next month. Feisal Abdul Rauf will be one of the speakers at the Q Gathering,
a national conference about the church’s role in society that this year
will be at the Crystal Ballroom from April 27-29. Conference organizers
say the imam will likely be part of a panel on the relationship between
Islam and Christianity in the West.